LYCHEE TREE

Alexander starts with ...
Does anyone know anything about pruning these trees? I have about 16 trees on a property that I bought and dont know when and if they need pruning - they are in poor condition.

Thanks

Gibbo says...
My lychees are going well. They love the water though and stress if they don't get lots. Also, I haven't done anything to them in a year except water them I don't add any fertilizer since you have to do it at certain times and they don't like nitrates and I tried some nitrate less fertilizer but they still went brown at the tips of the leaves. Anyway I have 4 trees, bosworth and salathiel varieties. attached are two issues I have noticed. one is the brown felt under the leaf which is caused by Erinose mite and I think I have to spray with rogor or find some organic equivalent on the internet. The other leaf was chomped by Rhyparid and red shoulder beetles and I can spray with Carbaryl or again find some organic alternative. As for pruning. Daleys Fruit have a tiny little book that is fantastic called Book Pruning for Fruit by Bruce Morphett only $12. The only other thing I have noticed is that they can be a little sensitive to wind above a breeze if it's constantly blowing on them.

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1	Picture: 2

Anonymous says...
Bosworth 3 is said to be the most suitable for the Perth (WA) climate ....
does anyone in Perth has any experience with this variety ?

As I live in a small townhouse on a very small block, I prefer a smaller, more compact tree (the Wai Chee variety ? but this variety is very rarely available).

Any comment and/or opinion is very welcome.

Thanks.

tracey faison says...
i live in Jacksonville Fl. and i would love to try it there is only very few berries i have not eaten.have you tried,loosening the dirt and replacing it with organic dirt.the homade rimedes for keeping insect,bats away from ituntil its ready to rep its fruits again.

Shaun says...
My Bosworth 3 Lychee plant has sent out new flowering shoots recently ....
isn't it the wrong time of the year for Lychee trees to flower now -- it is winter, wet and cold !! ??

Shaun says...
hmm .... strange ....
my Lychee tree is still putting out new flower growth, but is is now mid winter and it has been soaking wet with rain for the past few weeks .....
and the tip of the older leaves now has a very tiny 'brown dot' as if it has been burnt.
Anyone out there wants to comment, please ?

Shaun says...
Thanks for your tips, Correy.
The last time I feed my Lychee with weak solutions of Powerfeed and Seasol was approx 5 months ago ....
one book says the brown leaf tips could be caused by "wind burn" ???
I didn't realise that cold moist winter wind could cause burns.

Anonymous says...
Has anyone in Perth successfully grown Lychee in their home gardens ?

Shaun says...
Just some unanswered questions to the post above:
"The flower stalks are still full of flowers on my Lychee tree, although some flowers have dried and fallen off in the last week or so.
I understand lychee is slow growing, and was told not to encourage young/small fruit trees to set fruit in the first and/or second season so that they can grow properly/stronger.

Questions:
1) Should I remove or prune away the flower stalks on my Lychee tree ?
2) What should I do to promote more growth of the Lychee tree ?"

All tips will be appreciated.
Thanks.

ann says...
We have a lychee tree planted approx 1986, bought from Blossom Nurseries and believed to be Indian. Produces large crop every second year in February. At present covered in fresh growth a beautiful garden tree. Had to protect it from the hot easterly winds when it was young.

ann says...
We live in the foothills of Perth. Our tree is 3 - 4 metres high by approx 5 -6 across. My husband cut the top out as it was getting too awkward to pick the fruit. When the tree was young he made a frame around it with shadecloth to give it protection from the easterlies which are very bad here in the summer. We have a bore and as the tree is in our front garden surrounded by lawn which is only watered twice a week in the summer, he set up a separate hose to the lychee so it was watered at the same time as the vegetables. Only the roots are watered at this time as the hose is attached to a holed spike in the ground by the tree.

Seemed to work as we have a beautiful tree. One downside it has large crop every second year. I am told this is not unusual with some fruit trees.

amanda says...
Hi Correy n all, I have read a few references about not giving jaboticabas nitrates too (something to do with them being slow growing n sensitive) I have them in my Biolytix zone (which basically pumps worm wee all year round). They seem to be ok at 3 yrs but the older leaves have burnt tips.

I was going to plant my new lychee in here too (n longon, wampees) - are these all sensitive to nitrates too?

Ann - do u fertilise your tree? (plants seem to love the bore water in parts of Perth - I was told that it has a good quantity of iron n sulphur..?)

Mitzvot says...
Oops that is 2-3 year old NOT 203..
Sorry

ann says...
Article in The West Australian 12/12/08

New stocks of lychee trees (Litchi chinensis), one of most luscious of all fruits, are finally available at nurseries.

Native to the lowlands of southern China, the plants prefer warm humid summers and cool dry winters, but two varieties, Kwai May Pink (also known as Bosworth Number Three) and Chacapat, are proven performers in subtropical climates.

Plant in full sun in a spot protected from the wind. You can erect wind barriers for the first few years but trees will not survive coastal conditions. Young trees will not tolerate frost but mature trees are much more robust, reasonably drought-tolerant and can survive short periods of -4c.

Lychees do not like waterlogging and soils must be improved with organic matter.

In alkaline soils, like the ones found in most of coastal WA, they may need additions of chelated iron to prevent chlorosis (yellow leaves because of iron deficiency).

All soils must be heavily improved with compost and soil improver - use a whole bag at planting time, improving the soil wider rather than deeper.

Young trees need regular moisture and grow quite slowly - needing little more than an application of well-rotted manure at planting time. Older trees can be given fertiliser twice during their growing season. They are shallow-rooted and must be mulched.

Plants should bear in three or four years.

Fruits are expensive to buy because they do not store well. Pick the scented, red-skinned fruits, which have a translucent white flesh round a seed when fully ripe in autumn. Trees are attractive, with dense foliage, and grow slowly to less than 8m with a 5m spread.

Some sources say that the trees can be kept in a pot but recommend a yearly root trim before the plants are returned to the container.

Trees have male and female flowers on the same tree but planting more than one tree will improve fruit set.

This article in the Habitat Section was written by Deryn Thorpe a garden consultant.

Note: We have very sandy soil and have always used sheep poo and NPK blue.
When it was young we used mulch but not now as it has such a wide span and the foliage is dense.

tecko says...
I managed to sprout 2 lychee seedlings by putting a seed covered with seed raising mix filled with potting mix in a pot. I watered it every day. However, after a few weeks, I gave up because I didn't see anything growing. I left the pots among some plants, and almost forgot about it. A few months later, whilst clearing my pots, I thought I saw "something" - true enough, my seeds had sprouted into baby seedlings. One is about 3-4 inches tall now, and the other is about 7-8 inches tall. Maybe someone else has a quicker and more efficient way?

Shaun says...
Like my Longan, my Lychee planted in a large pot has sent out new shoots ....
at this stage, I don't know if these are flower buds or leave shoots ....
Last spring, most of the 'shoots' turned out to be flowers, and my Lychee plant did not gain much growth at all ....
I want to avoid the same error this year, so that I get more growth and leafy shoots from my plant ..... yet, I was told that too much fertiliser (Nitrogen) could cause the Lychee leaves to turn brown at its tips (Lychee plants are sensitive to Nitrogen???)
Any help and advice will be appreciated.
Thanks.

Cuong says...
Amanda,

I guess your lychee is a Bosworth 3/ Kwai mai pink?

that variety flowers earlier then the rest

I've yet to see some fruiting lychee in WA altough I have heard of 1 or 2 people that have supossedly had sucess

longan are far easier to get to fruit than lychee...

CJ says...
My 3 year and 5 year old Fay Zee Siu tree are flowering but there is no female flowers what can i do to get female flowers next year?

Shaun says...
Looks like my Lychee tree is putting out more flower buds than more new leaves.
So, it's time to feed it and to encourage new leafy growth.

Shaun says...
Hi Amanda,
Do you mean just to cut away the flower buds of the Lychee? It won't affect the growth of the plant, will it?
Perhaps, I should wait till it can be confirmed the buds are flowers and not new leave shoots before I cut them off, don't you think.
Thanks for your input.

Shaun says...
Thanks for your advice, amanda.
The flowers have dropped off, and now there are small green rounded 'beads' in their place .....
I s'pose these will develope into fruits if the conditions are right.
Is this the correct time to pinch them off ?
I don't see any new leaf-shoots though .... so I may not get any new growth, even if I removed these 'green beads'.

joda says...
hellow folks anything that burns during winter or summer if in a coastal place will suffer from the salt winds at anytime of the year. Most trees will burn back to state or branch with tiny or no regrowth on in it. just keep the water up and dont let it dry out longer than two days. During the hot weather tree roots often come back to the surface because excess water, in the long run you do more damage to any trees except the long established trees even relocated fruiting trees will perfprm bad.

Sean says...
This site http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/lychee/index.htm has a good description for most of the well known lychee trees Shaun. They also sell them but only the three gallon size trees. It's called the Pine Island Nursery. The Bosworth 3 is also called Kwai Mai Pink.

I have read from many other lychee growers that the Mauritius grows quite fast and the emperor and kwai Mai Pink are slow growers so they're good for indoor growing.

I bought a Mauritius from Nipa Hut Gardens. It should be 2-3 ft. tall. I'll be growing mine inside during the winter and outside on my window ledge during the summer. I'll tie the pot down so it doesn't fall down in case of wind.

Is an air-layered lychee plant supposed to flower right away or is their a a 3-4 year wait? Also, do they like humid weather in the summer because it's humid where I live in the summer.

Sean says...
The Mauritius that I bought had a nest of red fire ants in it's roots. They had formed a sort of moss like nest. The people I bought it from said they treat all of their trees with a fire ant drip, so they were surprised that any of the ants were alive. I soaked the roots in water after loosening all of the soil.

I believe I got rid of the ants. I haven't seen any and I've bought an ant killer just in case. The lychee is still in shock but I think it will perk up in a few weeks.

LILIA says...
I live in the Perth Metro area and would love to try growing a Lychee tree. I bought come fruit recently and kept the seeds. They were so sweet and delicious that I thought I would give it a go. Can anyone advise me on how to go about planting from seeds? I don't know what variety but they are not small seeds. I don't know if they like the sun or shade, soil type, fertilisers, etc. Thanks

Simon says...
Hi Lilia,

I would agree with Brendan. Buying a grafted tree is a better bet. Not only you are not starting from ground zero, it definitely saves you quite a few years of waiting (growing) time. I have two Bosworth lychee trees bought at different time, one in the ground n the other in a 50cm pot. The one in the pot (bought only 2 years ago) is doing better than the one in the ground (as mentioned on 3rd Feb above). Probably in summer, the Perth sandy soil could not retain enough moisture compared with the potting mix in the pot. That’s my guess.

Well Lilia, good luck let us know if you have any success.

pete says...
I have found with my tree which would be 30 years old only had 1 good crop that was when I put solfate of potash around the base.It has never been pruned except for intrusive branches. Maybe this is why it never fruits properly. The black Rhino beatles love to gorge one the fruit. To get a good tree stock. Find a mature tree and do a dicot that is barking a branch, raping a plastic bag filled with a good compost potting mix moistened and leaving it until the roots develope then cut it of and plant out into a pot it will fruit almost after 12 months

Shaun says...
Hi amanda,
Yes, those are lychee flowers.
They are small, and rather insignificanr .....
the flowers usually appear around this time of the year .....
hope you get a crop this year !!

Robyn says...
Hi everyone. How do I tell which variety of lychee I have. It was in the yard when we bought. Two good seasons (filled 3x20lr buckets of just fruit, no twigs etc, and never touched the top - cause we couldn't reach), then not a flower now this season looks great again. Am trying to learn how to look after it properly.

amanda says...
By all accounts, Lychees are very pendantic about the weather when it comes to them deigning to bear fruit.. :(

Robyn says...
After reading this forum I know how we got a massive crop. Weather isn't always right but when it gets it it's perfect. Had lots of friends suddenly appear too. Especially when the supermarket price is so expensive (not less than $6.99 peak time)

Cuong says...
Ann I would love to see a picure of your lychee tree. It is very rare to hear about a lychee tree fruiting here in Perth I have planted two trees less then one year ago and they are both flowering too but maybe to young to bear fruit

Sandy says...
My Lychee is rapidly dying and a friend of my suggested that it has had too much water. Its leaves are slowly going brown.
We've had an awful lot of rain lately and its feet have stayed soaked, the ground being somewhat muddy and saturated.
Do people agree that the roots probably have rotted? Any answers greatly appreciated.
I've been giving it foliar seasol the last couple of days, hoping to save it. It will be very disappointing to see it go as I've been nurturing it for the last year or so.
Sandy

ann says...
Hi Cuong
As you can see our lychee tree is in full blossum. Unfortunately we did not realise it would spread so much so it had to be cut back to allow for mowing the lawn. Also my husband removed the lower branches to enable us to get up inside. The tree is about 4 - 5 metres tall and a couple of years ago he cut out the top as it was difficult to reach the fruit. It must have done it good as it has grown back and looks quite healthy. As I said before with water restrictions here in Perth both the lawn and the tree were not watered during the our dry winter months.

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1

Jason says...
Seriously impressive. I didn't think lychees would grow that strongly in Perth. I'm not sure I want to even ask, but how old is that tree

ann says...
Hi Jason

We planted it approximately 1986 but cannot remember what it was called but do know it was an Indian variety. I believe the Ag Department here in Perth tried to grow them without success. Perhaps we were lucky. I know we protected it well when it was young as we experience very strong easterlies here.

Cuong says...
Ann, that is a very impressive lychee tree!!! thank you for taking the time to post up a picture of it.

I have two Tai So/Mauritius that will hopefully grow that large one day...

Wayne says...
I would suggest Lebaycid with a wetting agent Julie and do it asap, then weekly until they are almost ripe. I'm guessing they would be well matured by now so spray them now or loose them.

Wayne says...
Certainly could be by the looks of it Julie
http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/horticulture/5432.html

I had a similar problem with my young Lychee and had success by feeding it Sulphate of Potash. All the new leaves were being attacked as they came out and I almost lost the tree.

I found Aco-oil and Eco-neem mixed worked well.

Thanks for the photos Julie, I have learnt something here

amanda says...
Hi Mahomed - thanks for that info - in Glowinski's book he talks a bit about the weather needing to be cool and dry in autumn and warm and humid during flowering (and that cold, wet and rain can spoil fruit set)

The flowering requirements worried me (as our WA (S-West) springs don't seem quite right) - so it's great to hear your news! :)

Shelley says...
Hi Cuong,
Have your lychee got fruit yet? I have just planted Tai-so as you. But I heard that the Mai we pink is better. So now i am worried that if my decision is right. Thx.

Nick says...
Id say lychees are more acidic Myrna :)

MaryT says...
The pH of an 'acidic' food may metabolise as an alkaline in the body so its effect is opposite to its pH before ingestion and digestion.

Brendan says...
Hi Julie & Mary, Tomatoes act exactly the same. Acid on the cutting board then turn alkaline in the stomach. Makes me laugh when people tell me, "Oh, I can't eat tomatoes, they're too acid!"

john says...
Ok, Boys and girls. Acids don't turn into alkalis in "the body". Sadly the discussion has taken a wrong turn and we have people talking as if they knew a lot when their every utterance betrays startling ignorance. PS If you really must talk about this topic and I'm unsure why then acid are buffered in "the body" and a constant pH is maintained; buffering is done by two systems ,metabolic and respiratory.

john says...
It's a huge topic on which I spent an entire year once. Enough to say that what has been posted is way off target and is startling in its ignorance.

MaryT says...
Very brave, Linh :) I grew up with that stuff from the older women of past generations so food as medicine is in my blood. I love it as part of my culture and heritage - I even believe it works but I must declare my ignorance of any scientific studies other than the trial and error of billions of people over thousands of years.

MaryT says...
Thanks, Mike; I look forward to it. Meanwhile I am eating supermarket lychees and they're not bad! Fiery according to the Chinese.

MaryT says...
Mike, stop making us jealous. Lychees are $6.95/kg at Woolies today (cheap for Sydney). I think they mix a variety (or at least two) of cultivars because the stones/pips are so different. Anyway they're enjoyable if not 'best ever'. I have a No Mai Chi which may fruit one day if I plant it at my grave :)

amanda says...
Is this Rustys market Mike? what a great place it was even 15 odd yrs ago...a voyage of discovery for me at time... :)

That's depressing David. Is there a reason? I've not heard of it b4?

David says...
I read this in an old fruit book a number of years ago, it went o nto describe the fact thatfor no apparent reason lychees were under certain circumstances susseptable to some thing called sudden death. Cant remember if it was due to fungal root attack or poor nutrition

amanda says...
Isn't Amillaria that mushroom? Could understand a root rot tho Peter..Lychee grow quite well here in the sand...so they must like 'sharp' drainage... :D

They are quite slow growing too? Mine is so like my jaboticaba - it really resents being "pushed" with too much fertiliser...? Just responds with burnt leaf margins and frazzled new growth.

When I get time I am going to make leaf mould for these guys...I reckon they would love it?

MaryT says...
Went to China recently to find the ancestral village and my grandparents' graves and took this photo of lychees growing well on loess hills - very loose yellow soil but fertile.

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1

Peter says...
Hi all,
good information about lychee growing on an American based website lychee.online.
It talks about the danger of over-fertilising, definitely something to avoid. It's better to keep soil organic, spread some old leaves and hope for some matching mycorrhizal fungi to colonise the roots - they will speed up the growth of the tree and protect from pathogens. If lucky, you might get them straight away when collecting some soil (with some litchi roots) from underneath an old litchi tree, but I would test the soil first for aggressive soil pathogens.
About Armillaria: It is a basidiomycetes, entering through roots and moving up inside the trunk, girdling the tree.

Peter says...
Hi Nick,
I don't have experience with leaf mould, but might be nice for it.Just avoid any soil in there, otherwise your brew might be full of Pythium after a week - the damping off disease - it knocks out seedlings and is certainly not good for older trees either. I would just grow many lychee seeds and try out things on them before you risk your marcott.
Sometimes it all starts already with the parent tree, where propagators pick a shaded and/or horizontal branch for the marcotting - it will never turn out as nice as a perfectly healthy branch located in the right spot of the tree.
It's an advantage to know someone with an old tree and do your own marcot on it - then you know what you have.

Peter says...
I doubt the mycorrhizal fungi are already there in the marcot, except they use soil from underneath the parent tree. Maybe most would use spagnum moss instead?
Would you use samll amounts of slow release fertiliser from Osmocote, Mike? Does it kill the microflora?

Peter says...
I wonder about the chances of introducing the right mycorrhizal fungi by cutting up some lychee roots - grown for about 1 year in potting mix - and sprinkling them around the planted lychee tree?

Myrna says...
Sorry to have sparked such a heated debate from my posting on 10 Jan; however if anyone is brave enough would there be any good books on the subject of food groups which might shed some light on my question. Thanks

john says...
Myrna , go for a jog instead.

amanda says...
That's interesting Mike and Peter. My Lychee has improved our of sight since following Mikes advice for my jaboticabas :)
Now it only gets blood n bone, seasol and rain water.

Tropical and semitropical plants always make me think of a forest that has loads of leaf litter and moisture..and very rich-organic soils..? A slow but steady amount of nutrients and moisture.

I have used fallen leaves (rinsed) and sphagnum moss as mulch on my semitropicals....it's been awhile now and they are very happy.

The spag moss looks like it's hosting a little bit of blue-green algae (a nitrogen fixer) and there is some mycorrhizal fungi growing in some tree sacks too...on the woodier parts of the mix.

I was using slow release osmocoate prior to this Peter...only small amounts - and it was giving my lychee, jaboticaba, longon burnt leaf margins. Don't know about the soil..but there was no wood eating fungus in the bags until after I switched to B&B.

Nick says...
Just bought some blood and bone today, would it be okay on my lychee- i really want to help it grow a bit faster :)

Mike says...
The love thick mulch with wood and all sorts in it and frequent light B&B(or other mild organic ferts) applications extending beyond the dripline.If you are overcome by the need to give it proper NPK and micros for a boost put it well beyond the dripline andlet the roots go looking for it.This will also help expand the root system.Bad drainage and insufficient sunlight can stunt them.

Peter says...
Thanks for that. Someone might be able to sort out the cultivar by looking at your picture.
Pruning has a positive effect on fruiting of lychee and is done while harvesting.

Nick says...
I have to hand it to you amanda, the last week after the application of B&B (I used a tbsp too because theyre too expensive to lose) my lychee has literally exploded in ne growth- its the most I've ever seen a lychee grow! And no signs of burning!! I also put some crushed lychee peel around it like you suggested Mary :)

Peter says...
Great to hear your lychee is doing well.
Just keep in mind, that the nutrient uptake is very slow for lychee, so what you see now can not be the result from last weeks action.
Anyway, little and regular application is the way to go.

Jason says...
I saw a guy from the council casually spraying roundup on the side of a footpath just yesterday with about a 40 km/h sidewind blowing. He was easily getting a 3 meter overspray all over everything including a couple of little dogs that were barking at him, pretty smart guy. I'm not sure about the Lychee, perhaps it got too wet recently?

Liz says...
I've become obsessed with Lychees! Does anyone know if a lychee tree would grow in the Albury/Wodonga region? Cheers!

MaryT says...
Your Woolies lychee looks good! Any fruit? Trouble is I don't have room so the seedlings will have to go.

tecko says...
Hi Simon,
1.Yes, I'm in Perth metro area (willetton).
2. No, not lychee plants. I ate the fruit, then sprouted the seeds in a pot.
3. 1st 3 years, it was kept in a pot.
4. Gave it lots of water and sunshine.
5. Fertizers used: NPK, superphospate,urea.
6. then, transplanted onto ground.
7. Water every day (usu. twice)
8. Whenever I gutted fish, poured all the bloody (fish)water into the ground.
9. I remember once I poured in some unwanted leftover prawn soup in as well.
Well, thats about all I have done so far.

Simon says...
Thanks for the info Tecko. I guess watering twice a day during summer make some differences. I wonder seedling plants tend to grow better than grafted once that supplied by nurseries.
Thanks agin.

Ben says...
Elke, if I reimburse you may I be included? Are you in NSW?

MaryT says...
Hey John if it's lychee seedlings you want I have a number of volunteers that you can have but they may not be good for fruit for a long time... contact me at tngmry at yahoo dot com dot au

I always thought Woolies lychees were mixed types and from the look of the seedlings I'm right.

john says...
Elke, where art thou?

john says...
Oh, I thought we were talking about Red Bayberry, Elke. Lychees I have aplenty.

Mike says...
john,a good friend of mine and his chinese wife will be going around bayberry country in southern china next week.I asked him to pop into that nursery that had them and the seedless lychee and also scour the markets for good quality bayberries.He is pretty reliable and if he brings me back some seeds I could get some to you.I may be too warm for them and I can alert you if I actually get seeds in hand.

john says...
Thanks , Mike. I'm even thinking of going myself.

MaryT says...
Mike do you realise what John's offered for a swap? lol

MaryT says...
Sorry, John. I have limited vocabulary. English is my second language. I'm an old woman who is tickled by the way young people 'speak' online and forgets myself sometimes. Sigh.

denise says...
I dont know if there will be lots of fresh seeds of bayberry in china anytime soon. One of my sources says the main harvest is in June.

Xiem says...
Exactly Mike.